Tomato tarte tatin

Tips: Cook the perfect tomato tarte tatin

Learn to craft the perfect savoury tomato tarte tatin with our essential tips.

Mastering tomato placement

Be careful when arranging the cherry tomatoes to achieve a beautifully caramelised and evenly cooked tomato tarte tatin. Start by halving the tomatoes and removing the seeds to help them caramelise and prevent a soggy tarte. Snugly place the halves cut-side down, starting at the edge and working towards the centre in a spiral. This ensures even cooking and creates a pleasing pattern once the tarte is done.

Make tomato tarte tatin ahead of time

You can prepare elements of the tomato tarte tatin in advance. Prepare the puff pastry by shaping it into a disc, wrapping it, and chilling it in the fridge until you need it. You can also cook the butter, sugar, and balsamic vinegar to create the caramel, then let it cool and reheat it when you resume cooking. For the best texture and flavour, bake the tarte just before serving.

Ensure a crisp pastry

To achieve a crisp pastry, prick it with a fork before baking it. This allows steam to escape instead of getting trapped inside the tart, thus creating unwanted moisture. Bake on a flat tray heated in the oven to help the pastry cook evenly and crisp up.

Make a tasty tomato tarte tatin

Make a tasty tomato tarte tatin and enjoy a stunning, flavourful dish that celebrates the delicate balance between sweet and savoury. At its core, it is a simple dish with few components, but it is all about how well these components work together. Ripe cherry tomatoes meet buttery puff pastry, and the whole thing is topped with creamy white cheese. The red and yellow tomatoes decorate the crispy, golden-brown puff pastry perfectly. Its visual splendour and deep flavours make it a truly remarkable dish for entertaining guests.

With sweet, caramelised cherry tomatoes cooked in vinegar and butter

It is love at first sight when you gaze upon the beautiful dark red and yellow layers of tomatoes on the tomato tarte tatin. They are the essence of the tart, providing a deep, sweet, and savoury base. Cooked slowly in a mixture of balsamic vinegar, sugar, and butter, the tomatoes caramelise and transform into an extraordinary sight full of wonderful flavours. The vinegar cooks into a rich, syrupy glaze that envelops the tangy nuances of the tomatoes. Combined with butter and thyme, the cherry tomatoes offer the perfect balance of acidity and sweetness.

Crispy puff pastry and creamy white cheese

Soft, juicy cherry tomatoes mixed with crispy puff pastry and creamy white cheese. This is what the tomato tarte tatin is all about. It presents a delightful contrast of textures, making every mouthful a joyful experience. Baked in the oven, the pastry puffs up and turns into a crisp, golden layer. Its light, buttery base becomes irresistibly flaky with a slight crunch. Sprinkle white cheese on top and enjoy its slightly melted texture and tangy flavour notes.

Enjoy other recipes with white cheese, for example, potato ravioli, loaded sweet potato fries, and couscous tabbouleh.

A tomato twist on a French classic

Our recipe for tomato tarte tatin gives the classic French tarte tatin a savoury tomato twist. Traditionally, the tarte features caramelised apples and is enjoyed as a decadent dessert. The tomato tarte tatin is a modern adaptation inspired by the classic. Instead of apples, ripe tomatoes are caramelised with balsamic vinegar, sugar, and herbs before being topped with puff pastry. The tart is a wonderful example of classic recipes meeting modern innovation. With its perfect balance of sweet and savoury, you can easily serve it as a delicious starter or a sophisticated side dish.

Make the dish your own

You can tailor the recipe to suit your tastes and preferences. For this tomato tarte tatin, you can choose from a variety of tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes are the top choice for their small size and sweetness, but you can swap them with other tomatoes that are close in size to ensure they cook evenly. For larger tomatoes, slice them into halves or smaller pieces and remove extra seeds and juice to keep the tarte from getting too soggy.

For a more intense flavour, consider adding roasted garlic or olives to the tomatoes before covering them with pastry. They will add depth, nuance, and a slight Mediterranean touch.

Adding capers to the tomato tarte Tatin is also a great choice. Their briny, tangy flavour provides a sharp contrast to the sweet, caramelised tomatoes and adds a burst of umami.

The pastry itself can also be flavoured with different ingredients. Try black pepper, Parmesan, or seeds for added texture and flavour.